


Tangled Knots

by hayam



Series: Unraveling [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cheating, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Love Triangles, Luke Skywalker Needs A Hug, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, Mentioned Padmé Amidala, Minor Leia Organa/Han Solo, Past Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Politics, Post-Divorce, Protective Ahsoka Tano
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25352875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayam/pseuds/hayam
Summary: Burning. That was all Luke could feel. Burning from his broken ribs, left leg, and dislocated shoulder. Burning from the glass pieces on his face. But not his heart. It was complete ash.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Han Solo, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Unraveling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835860
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please read Loose Thread of the Tapestry before reading this because it could help understand this modern AU just a little bit more

Burning. That was all Luke could feel. Burning from his broken ribs, left leg, and dislocated shoulder. Burning from the glass pieces on his face. But the worst burn was in his heart; it was complete ash.

He thought helplessly at the smoky and crumbled pieces that were scattered right where his mom's office was. Right where she was. He and his mom were working on a U.S. History Project together, a family tree, and Luke went downstairs to get his backpack and before he knew it, he was slammed against the living room window. And he woke up in the hospital with some random nurse telling him that there was an explosion and his mom has "passed away".

"Luke, I brought you some food," a nurse answered.

"I'm not hungry," he answered.

He thought back on the last thing he had eaten; was it Chick Fil A? Or was it Pollo Loco? Either way it was too insignificant; he should have cooked for his mom. Made her favorite dinner. 

No. This was just some terrible misunderstanding. His mom would walk in any moment. Her long chocolate hair that matched her warm brown eyes. She would smile at him and ruffle his banana blond hair and say,"You need a haircut, Lukey." Luke would slap her hand away.

"You have not had anything to eat or drink for two days?," the nurse pointed out, worry laced I'm her words.

Luke shifted his not broken leg under the white blankets and looked at the barely lit room. He had heard the nurse say that some of his sight may have been damaged by brightness of the blast and it would be better for his eyes to slowly adjust to the light.

"I can just eat when I get home," he told the nurse.

He did feel a bit thirsty, however. Maybe it was from all the crying he did but he didn't remember crying. Did he cry? Is that what people normally do when a loved one dies? He didn't remember crying. He didn't remember crying.

The nurse looked down and Luke saw a glimpse of sadness in the nurse's eyes.

"You have a visitor.”

Luke’s heart lifted, was it his mom to take him away from this cold room.

His denial was ripped away from him as he noticed the blue and white braids, caramel skin, and bright blue eyes of the tall Ahsoka Tano.

His stepmother.

Luke scoffed, of course his father would send in Ahsoka instead of facing him himself. Anakin married Ahsoka a month after he and his mom had a divorce. A fucking month and even at five years old Luke knew that was too soon. Anakin gave no warning to him, Leia, or his mother. Leia immediately loved Ahsoka but Luke immediately loathed her. He felt everyone just forgot about his mom like Padme Amidala was nothing. 

She was around ten years younger than his mother and was a retired Major General in the Army.

Luke didn't even know why he hated Ahsoka, the lady was nothing but kind to him when she visited. Made him cookies or whatever. Maybe that was why, she was actually a nice stepmother which made her even more intolerable.

\-----------

Ahsoka was going to kill Anakin when she and Luke get back home from the hospital. Her husband is always trying to make Luke to like her by tricking Luke to go on shopping trips with her and Leia, the movies, and even freaking Disneyland. All of these attempts always end up with Luke giving her the silent treatment while glaring at her with those big blue eyes. Anakin can't make Luke like her and neither can she, that is Luke's choice alone.

Now, Anakin is sending her out to meet Luke in the hospital? After Padmé died? Probably the dumbest thing Anakin thought of, and that is saying a lot. The last thing the boy needed at this moment was to see a person he hated.

So now here she was in the hospital and the fifteen year old was giving her his signature glare. Luke was Anakin's doppelgänger, the same messy blond hair, intense blue eyes and bone structure. But that glare, how the left eyebrow turn slightly up, the pursed lips, and the tinge of sadness in the eyes was all Padmé's.

"Be patient with him," the doctor had told her,"he is very sore and weak and is in deep denial."

"Hey, Luke," she greeted,"how are you feeling?"

Luke scoffed and rolled his eyes and shifted his body away from her, well as much as his broken leg and dislocated shoulder would let him.

Ahsoka took a shaky breath, usually she would just leave Luke be at this point but the young man had just lost his mother and Padmé's side of the family 

"I want you to know that if you need anything, I'm always right here," she stated, immediately hating how cliched she sounded. But she figured it was safe to be cliched with Luke as they weren't exactly best friends.

"Anything?," the boy asked timidly.

Ahsoka nodded.

"I want you... to... leave me alone.”

Well, that's just nice, Ahsoka thought. But she figured she deserved it.

"Okay, I'll be outside talking to the doctor if you need-"

"Don't worry, I won't," Luke mumbled.

Ahsoka walked outside where the doctor gave her a sympathetic look. Great, she thought, I guess she heard the conversation.

"So Dr. Unduli, when would Luke be able to leave the hospital?"

"In about a week," she answered before adding,"but you need to look at rehab centers in your state."

"I got instructions from the nurse about that and how long do you think it would take for Luke to heal?"

"For the shoulder a few weeks, the leg is around five months, and the broken ribs are around two months,” Dr. Unduli told her before adding,”and I would also suggest a psychologist for his mental health.”

Ahsoka nodded in agreement and looked back at Luke was staring right at them, his eyes squinted. Anakin and his damn work schedule. He should have been at Luke’s side consoling him. She didn’t know how she was going to Luke that he had to leave Massachusetts to go to Texas. He had already lost his mom, and now he was going to lose his hometown.

“We will take great care of him.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kind comments, here is chapter 2!

Anakin hasn’t been this nervous since he was deported. He counted the white tiles of the ceiling and listened to the frantic footsteps of the nurses and doctors. Anything to keep from going in that hospital room.

He didn’t know how to talk to his son, it was almost like he lost the ability to hold a conversation with the boy since he was seven. The odd thing was that Luke, according to Padmé’s sparse phone calls through the years, was much like Anakin. He also had an interest in aviation, went to robotics camps over the summer, and had trouble with English and Literature.

He finally swallowed his pride and entered the darkened hospital room. He had been avoiding this moment for too long.

“Hey Luke,” he greeted with as much joy as he could muster in the grey setting,”how are you holding up?”

The fifteen year old glanced at Anakin like he was some pest Artoo brought in. Anakin sighed, of course Luke wouldn’t answer. Hell, the last time he saw Luke was when Luke was in elementary, before work picked up.

Luke looked much like Anakin himself, except his hair was a bit longer and more blond. Even with his entire leg elevated, Anakin could tell that Luke was quite small for his age. A trait that both Luke and Leia inherited from their mom.

Anakin sat down and patted Luke’s leg which caused the boy to wince.

“Are they giving you enough pain medication?”

“Where is Aunt Sola?,” Luke asked, not looking up,”because if Mom is dead, it would be her to pick me up.”

Anakin shifted nervously. He remembered Sola, Padmé’s feisty older sister who wasn’t the most pleasant to him after his divorce from Padmé. He knew if Sola’s flight from Paris wasn’t delayed, Anakin probably wouldn’t have heard of Padmé’s passing.  
————————-————————-————  
“I loved her once too,” Anakin had told Sola through the phone, who had to told Anakin to check on Luke.

“So why did you leave her AND Luke?!,” Sola snapped through the phone.

————————-————————-————  
“Aunt Sola’s flight has been delayed for a week,” Anakin told him.

Anakin saw the slightest glimpse of tears, even in the dim light, in those cerulean eyes that were so much like his own.

“And the doctors and Aunt Sola thought that maybe you could come home with us for the time being,” he told Luke.

There was one thing he and Sola agreed on, Luke’s safety and well-being. And if Padmé’s assassin is still on the loose, they were probably after Luke. Luke living in the same area would make it easy for the perpetrators to find him.

Luke didn’t answer. 

“You know, um, we have a pretty large guest room, it even has its own bathroom and we can turn it into a bedroom for you,” Anakin stated,”and you could go to school with Leia.”

Anakin noticed Luke started to tremble a little, and that was when he remembered Luke was homeschooled since first grade. Maybe a sudden change to public school wasn’t the greatest idea. He should start looking into some homeschool tutors.

“You don’t have to go to school with Leia if you don’t want to,” he quickly added.

Luke visibly relaxed and Anakin noticed something was off about Luke. The fifteen year old was too calm to had find out his mother just died horrifically. Anakin remembered whenever his mother was murdered when he was nineteen, he almost started killing everyone around him.

His son just acted like it was a mild inconvenience.

“You know if you need someone to talk to, I’m right here,” he told Luke.

“What is there to talk about?,” Luke asked while blinking, as if he was coming out of a daze,”she is...she is dead.-Mom is really dead.”

Anakin nodded as his eyes burned with the threat of tears. But he wasn’t going to fail being Luke’s father again, especially right now. 

Luke turned a pale green and his breathing turned shallow.

“Luke?”

Anakin reached out to ruffle Luke’s hair but Luke slapped it away with his good hand and started gagging.

Realizing what was about to happen, Anakin grabbed a trash can and let Luke throw up.

When Luke was done throwing up, he started sobbing.

“It’s going to be okay,” Anakin reassured as he reached his hand towards Luke again.

He realized he didn’t realize how that was the worst thing to say.

“Leave me alone!,” Luke screamed as he slapped Anakin’s hand away again,”you know how to do that!”

That was a stab in the heart, a well deserved one, but still a stab. He wondered how the hell was this going to work?  
————————-————————-————

Leia scrolled through Netflix, trying to find the next political documentary to watch. Anything but the news which was just plastered with headlines of her biological mother’s death and conspiracies behind it. It made her sick seeing people making a death into some bait for more views. She hasn’t seen her mom since she was around nine when they visited Washington D.C. together. Guilt crept into her heart, her mom also invited her to go to Italy last year with Luke but Leia had a debate competition. 

And she had lost anyway.

Usually she would be hanging out in the pool with Amilynn Holdo or Jyn Erso, but her parents told her that she couldn’t leave the house to get Luke from Massachusetts. And it has been four days of her just being by herself in the house.

She and her twin brother got along well enough, they exchanged birthday card every year since there was no excuse for either of them to forget. She wondered how Luke was going through this now.  
The familiar grumbling of the garage door opening knocked her out of her thoughts.

She ran to open the door and she saw her stepmom push Luke in a wheelchair. When her dad said he was severely injured, it was not a hyperbole. His entire left leg was in a bright blue cast, his left arm was in a sling and there were bandages on his face. 

“Hey Luke,” she greeted,”how are you feeling?”

“Great, obviously,” he slurred,”could someone escort me to this guest bed I have heard so much about?”

“Luke is pretty drowsy from pain medication and they gave him a sedative to calm him down on the plane ride,” Ahsoka told Leia as she wheeled Luke near the stairs,”maybe you guys can catch up later?”

Ahsoka picked up Luke in a cradle position and Leia wondered if Luke was that light or was her stepmother, who was in the Air Force, that strong.

“Where is Dad?,” Leia asked.

“Bringing in Luke’s things from the truck,” she told her,”go help him out.”

Leia ran out to the garage where she saw Anakin carrying a pet carrier which most likely contained Artoo. When her mom and dad split up ten years ago, they had also divided the pets, Artoo and Threepio, the Persian kitten and chihuahua puppy. Artoo went with her mom and Luke, Threepio went with her and her dad.

“What were they feeding this thing?,” her muttered as he adjusted Artoo in his arms.

“She looked at the truck and he noticed it was barely anything there. Just some suitcases and plastic containers

“Where is Luke’s stuff?,” she asked while pulling her long brunette hair into a ponytail.

Her father looked down at the driveway, while wiping away his blond hair.

“A lot of it was lost in the explosion,” he explained,”so Ahsoka and I are going to Ikea and Targets to get him some new things- you can stay here and keep him company.”

Leia could just imagine hours of awkward silence lapsing between the two of them, as it usually did when it was just the two of them. But she couldn’t just leave him alone in an unknown house and in an unknown state.

When they were done putting the luggage in the living room, her parents left to go the store, leaving her in the near empty house. 

She grabbed some leftover pasta from the fridge and went upstairs to her room. As she passed the guest bedroom, she decided to check on her brother.

She knocked on the door slightly and when he didn’t answer, she went inside.

Luke was in the bed, blond hair covering his blue eyes. His head was elevated on some pillows. Artoo, the ten year old Persian cat, laid at Luke’s feet, his blue eyes alert. He was taller than her which wasn’t saying much and lost some baby fat since she saw him last, which was back when they were in elementary.

”Are you one of the maids?,” Luke mumbled.

Leia cocked her head, maid? Then she remembered that their mom usually had maids that looked like her to be decoys. She guessed she would be a perfect candidate for being one of the maids as she shared her mom’s brown hair and bright brown eyes.

“No I’m afraid not,” she corrected softly as she approached him,”it is Leia.”

“Ah, my long lost twin,” he stated before looking at the plate of lasagna in her hands,”is that actual, none hospital food?”

“Yeah, do you want some?,” she asked.

Luke nodded eagerly and Leia took a knife and cut the lasagna piece in half.

When they were done eating, the normal awkward silence crept back in. Feeling it was time to let Luke sleep, she got up from the foot of the bed.

“Could you stay here Leia?,” Luke asked, his eyes darting around the room,”it’s just until I go to sleep...I really don’t want to be alone.”

Leia knew she couldn’t refuse as she saw those large, pleading blue eyes. Luke has been a professional of pulling off the puppy dog face ever since they were kids and not even she could resist it. Leia sat back down at the foot of the bed. 

“Of course, Luke,” she answeeed.


End file.
